The Philosophy of Bruce Lee"To me, all kinds of knowledge definitely mean self-knowledge."
Bruce Lee
The philosophical interest of Bruce Lee started when I was training in Wing Chun under sifu (teacher) Yip Man Yip Man put a great emphasis on the philosophical intricacies of Wing Chun, and this had a big influence on Bruce. Linda Lee Cadwell, Bruce's widow, wrote in The Bruce Lee Story, "If there is something that Yip Man gave Bruce could have crystallized the direction of Bruce in life was to interest students in the philosophical teachings of Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu and other great thinkers and philosophers. As a result, the mind of Bruce became the distillation of the wisdom of such teachers. "The single most important influence in Bruce was his exposure to the Taoist philosophy. The Taoist philosophy is the development of the Chinese sage Lao Tzu, who in the sixth century BC wrote the definitive work on the subject, the Tao Te Ching. Taoism is identified by the Tai Chi, commonly known by the symbol of yin / yang. At the heart of Taoist philosophy is the idea of how man relates to nature. Lao Tzu believed that man is merely a part of a larger whole, and accepting their relationship to the whole and following the course of nature with no resistance, the man could definitely find success and serenity. Lao Tzu did not believe in a formalized system of education, nor believed in the Confucian doctrine of filial piety. Bruce Given the problems with school work and teachers, not surprisingly, felt a connection with the message of Lao Tzu.At the University of Washington in Seattle Bruce reached the advanced courses in philosophy. His understanding of the concepts East was so deep that became in high demand as a lecturer in Eastern philosophy. In fact it was during a lecture he gave at Garfield High School in Seattle where he met Linda Emery, who would one day become his wife."When Bruce was in Seattle used to quote Confucius and Lao Tzu and all sorts of people," and believed it, "says Taky Kimura, senior student of Bruce." But very soon made the transition himself and became the philosopher ".In 1963, Bruce published a book entitled Chinese Gung Fu: The Philosophical Art of Self-Defense. The book expressed their views on the gung fu and his deep interest in the philosophical aspects of martial arts training.Bruce was already beginning to feel unhappy with the "styles" of fighting. The idea did not follow the Taoist concepts of harmony and formality. In the separation between hard and soft styles of gung fu schools said: "It is an illusion. You see, in reality the softness / firmness is an inseparable force of incessant movement interaction. We hear a lot of teachers stating that their styles are either soft or hard, these people are blindly grabbing a partial view of the whole. I was once asked by a so-called "master" Kung Fu, one of those that appeared in comedy, beard and all that what he thought about Yin (soft) and Yang (firm). I simply replied "Bullshit". Of course, I was pretty impressed by my answer, and could not come to realize that "it" is never two. "Bruce understood the false divide that so often catches students of Taoism, the false division to recognize the Yin and Yang as opposites, rather than as complements. The Tao is the path undivided.Bruce's fight with Wong Jack Man at his school in Oakland brought that fact to a thorough review. Fighting strictly in the "style" Wing Chun, Bruce had almost lost the match. To continue to accept the Wing Chun as the solution, Bruce was "grabbing a partial view of the whole." He realized that he must continue to evolve. The idea of fighting styles had come into conflict with Taoist belief that the path of struggle is formless and is all-rhythmic, and styles that separate the wrestler from the truth.It was here that the expression of martial arts philosophy of Bruce, Jeet Kune Do, was born. Its fundamental principle is "have no way as way" clearly borrowed from Lao Tzu, "This is called shape without shape, form no object."The student of Bruce Lee, Daniel Lee, acknowledged the influence of Taoism on the teachings of Bruce Lee. "To make a unique art, you must have a philosophical foundation. Bruce Lee saw his principles of Jeet Kune Do in Taoist philosophy, the relationship of yin and yang. Jeet Kune Do really is philosophy in action."The star basketball player and student of Bruce Lee Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shared a similar vision of Bruce and his martial art. "I saw Bruce as a renegade Taoist priest."Leo Fong, a Methodist minister, film director and former student of Bruce Lee recalls a conversation he had with Bruce in 1964. "Bruce asked me, 'Why are you getting all these kinds of gung fu?'."I said, 'Well, I'm looking for the ultimate'."Bruce laughed. Said," Dude, there is no definitive!. The bottom line is within you! '."It took a while to let go of old beliefs, old crutches. When I walked around there to let it go and started training on my own I realized that Bruce had given me. It's frightening to be your own teacher. The only way from which you can find the cause of your own ignorance, he said, is the self-assessment and total commitment to your own process of growth. "The second largest influence on Bruce Lee, philosophically speaking, was the Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. Krishnamurti was born into poverty in 1895 in southeastern India. The boy was unusually passionate and intellectual, and at the age of ten he was recognized as a messiah by the mystical sect of the Theosophical Society, which adopted him and sent him to England and France to be educated and finally assume its role as leader . However, in 1929 at the age of 34 years convulsed the TS giving up his role as Messiah, arguing that religious doctrines and organizations interfering in the way of the real truth. "As you put beliefs before life, before life creeds, dogmas before life, religious life before, there is stagnation. Can you hold the waters of the sea or winds raise your fists?". Krishnamurti then went on to become a motivational speaker and influential philosophical until his death in 1986.Bruce discovered Krishnamurti how to see life ran parallel to his. In his book Freedom From now, Krishnamurti writes: "You can look through an ideology, through a screen of words, through hopes and fears. The man who is really serious, with a quest to find out what is true, has no concept at all. lives only in what is ". Bruce adapted this idea to form the philosophy of your martial art: "You can express yourself and be alive through an assembled form, through stylized movement. The man who is really serious, with a quest to find out what is the truth , has no style at all. lives only in what it is. "Bruce defined his Jeet Kune Do in this way: "Jeet Kune Do is training and discipline towards the ultimate reality in self-defense, the ultimate reality in simplicity. The true art of Jeet Kune Do is not to accumulate but eliminate. The full and free expression to the ever-changing opponent should be the goal of all practitioners of Jeet Kune Do "."A class or a traditionalist only do what the teacher says and that's it. The teacher is pedestalizado and you do what you say and not question it," says John Little, the historian of the State of Bruce Lee. "But Bruce was drinking some very different sources, such as Gestalt therapy, Krishnamurti, and so on. Not that these people were necessarily creators, but they saw some truth on which they wrote. Bruce saw the same truth, and saw its application to the martial arts. ""The amazing thing about Bruce is that he was able to create things (we thought) is external and make it a part of the concept Jeet Kune Do", says Leo Fong.Bruce believed he could not teach their students both as to signal the direction of knowledge. "I can not teach," said Bruce James Franciscus on the TV series Longstreet, "only help to explore you yourself.""He was one of the few who applied philosophy to art," said Dan Inosanto. "Everything was taught the style 'is soft but not docile. Firm but not hard.' I thought, what the hell does that mean?".Bruce also felt that "Knowing is not enough, you should apply." It was his opinion that knowledge is useless unless it is given to good use. More importantly, one can never determine the value of knowledge if it does not. To quote Lao Tzu: "The people of Tao never try. Ago."Bruce Taoist concept embodied in jan tzu or honest self-expression. As he refused to subordinate themselves to a fighting style was open and free to be critical of all concepts of the fight, including his own. This part of the character of Bruce caused the greatest conflict between himself and others, especially martial artists who were often trained to accept the teachings of their instructor without question. Without doubt, the term teacher, used in many martial arts styles denotes the teacher or school leader involves absolute and unquestioned authority. As the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates said for the first time, the best form of knowledge and wisdom is through the dialectic, or the process of present ideas for open discussion so that the inherent weakness of the ideas can be discovered. The Socratic method is now used not only in philosophy but also in the scientific method of examination, in which a search first formulate a hypothesis and then try to prove or disprove. The science of martial arts should be no different.Bruce's personal expression of martial arts was something I thought was something only you and only you, because it was the product of their personal attributes and deficiencies. Among his "problems" physicists were being short-sighted, be low and light, a bad back and one leg was shorter than the other. Their shortcomings in these areas, made up for in speed, timing and strength. Dan Inosanto, his protege, he said, "The total picture Lee wanted Bruce to present his students was that, above all, could find their own way. It is important to remember that Bruce Lee was a 'pointing' of truth and not the truth itself. "Bruce did not believe in learning by accumulation, but believed that the greatest form of mastery was the simplicity of "inessential file", much like what Lao Tzu thought of the need to disperse all schools in formal learning. No doubt Bruce dispersed its own school system shortly after his death, unless your path is taken as "the way".For Bruce all knowledge leading to self-knowledge. Bruce put much emphasis on this belief of his teachings. He was one of the most important concepts that emerged from his study of Krishnamurti. As Krishnamurti said: "We must understand ourselves first in order to know everything and understand and solve problems." Bruce felt that for people to grow and evolve, they must get to know themselves through their choice of media: dance, music, art or martial arts, to name a few.Clearly, Bruce was most influenced by the theories Taoist Lao Tzu. As Diane Dreher wrote in his book The Tao of Inner Peace, "Unlike Confucius, who praised the tradition, Lao Tzu calls individuals to think for themselves from the convention and seek the highest truth. I knew that new solutions rarely come from the old leaders, entrenched in the status quo. They often come from ordinary people who believe in the power to make a difference. " Although Bruce was far from being current, represents the perfect example of modern Taoist representation in twentieth-century spiritual exercise and Lao Tzu.Perhaps the end will be the philosophy of Bruce Lee which have a greater importance from a historical perspective. Bruce has influenced generations since his death to release the concepts of classical thought, adapt to adversity, economy of action and willingness to learn. These are concepts that will greatly benefit people of all doctrines, disciplines and vocations.By James Bishop